Time to Ketchup

I actually meant time to catch up but if I went with that title then I couldn't have used a big picture of a bottle of ketchup as filler. I know I haven't written anything in a while so today's blog is just a little of everything that's been going on these past few weeks. In absolutely no chronological order. 


First, I have to tell you about hot yoga last night. It was like I had an out of body experience. Or more like an 'in somebody else's body' experience- I was so flexible and actually was one of the good ones in class! Normally I'm the token fumbler who can barely touch my fingertips to my shins; you know, the person you want to sit next to to make yourself feel better. But last night, after a week off because of a cold, I tried the Power Yoga-Pilates Fusion class, which concentrates more on building strength than regular yoga. 




While I'm waiting for class to start, the instructor knows everybody else so it's clear that these people attend on a regular basis so I set up in the front corner by the wall to try to not be so noticeable but halfway through, I almost dragged my mat next to the instructor's because I was on fire and obviously everyone else could benefit from my mastery of the subject. 


They must have had the heat set to Gumby because no joke- I could put my hands flat on the floor while standing, I could lay my body so flat my head touched my knees, and I could do every advance pose that she whipped out. 


After about halfway through, the instructor is starting to recognize my superior abilities and every time we start a new pose, she'd say, "And for those of you who find this too easy, you can try this more advanced position," and here we'd exchange knowing glances, like "we'll pretend like this next pose is hard for us but we're just doing it so that everyone else doesn't feel too bad about themselves but we both know we are super-awesome". Or something like that. Even thinking about it now still baffles me. I'm thinking there are two possibilities for this phenomenon: 


1. Because of my severe lack of physical activity, my muscles have actually taken on a jelly-like quality and were therefore much easier to stretch once heat was applied.


2. This was a one-shot deal from my body so that I could see what would happen if I actually DID exercise on a regular basis, but for now it will never happen again. 


I'm pretty sure that the next time I go back I'll return to being the token doofus party favor of the class. But man, it was nice while it lasted!

Here I am!

In the meantime, work has got me thinking twice about VaVaVaVoom. After a friend of mine gave me a good talking to (your in your mid-thirties, do you really want to work at Taco Bell when you're forty? No? Then get your ass in gear), I really thought about it and quite honestly, if I devoted as much time to my job that I do to sewing, I could be CEO in five years! It was like it was suddenly crystal clear. It was my 'no duh!' moment. While I was pondering all of this, I made all my listings in my store inactive.



That lasted about two days. Not that I've changed my mind about devoting a little more time to my career, but I just couldn't stand to have my Etsy storefront empty. So in a stroke of brilliance, I decided that I would list my items but I'd put that I have an eight week production time, which would put me past Halloween! It's genius! Two hours later I got a Paypal ping on my phone- I got an order. I picked up my phone, read the order, and let out a slow-motion "Fuuuuuuuddddggge" a la A Christmas Story. But just like in the movie, I didn't say fudge. I let out the mother of all curse words because my super ultra brilliant idea had backfired almost immediately. 


At first I read the order and thought, "Hey, it's not so bad, it's just Snow White!". Then I read the note. It's from a woman I had started a conversation with a while ago and she wants the shirt in an Ariel style for her daughter's birthday party. By next week. I just cried quietly at my desk for a few hours. Oh, and then I took another order for an actual Snow White shirt. Stupidity knows no bounds.


But on a good note about my store- I might have help! I don't want to jinx it, but I'm meeting my potential favorite person in the whole world tomorrow after work. She's going to give the Alice in Wonderland shirt a go since it's not needed until the end of October and if she doesn't catch on that we only make about fifty cents an hour, then she'll start picking up the overflow! Which will be everything! Woohoo! I told her all about the shirts I've made and the ones I want to make, and she didn't hang up on me! And since Bobby met her through church, I'm not too concerned about her stealing my ideas and opening up her own store. Plus I told her that I don't want anyone who's going to steal my ideas and open their own store. So keep your fingers crossed! I might be on my way to becoming a real sweatshop owner!


Oh, and in case you didn't see on Facebook, I revamped the Mary Poppins shirt so that it was more streamlined for running and I gotta tell ya, that shirt is hot. As in sexy hot. If I didn't like my client so much, I would have claimed that one of the animals had explosive diarrhea all over it and given her a refund and kept it for myself. I LOVE how this shirt came out! With the ruffles and the corset, you can't help but feeling like you're the shit when you're wearing it. I am so excited that this weekend at Disney, two women are going to be wearing my shirts while running the half marathon! I'm so excited I could run a marathon myself! Or an eighth of the way around the block! You know, whichever. 


And after only one short month, I finally put buttons and button-holes on the jon jons mom made for me (I'll be sending my list of critique later, mom) and got them listed on Etsy. This is the first time I'm actually excited about the damn things! I'm hoping they sell quickly so that the sweatshop factory SE (Southeast) can get busy again. That Tennessee welfare only goes so far!


That's it for now. I will try to get back on a blog schedule because I really like writing. Sure, I might be writing more about trends in healthcare but hey, that can be fun too, right? Till next time! Thanks for coming back!